Homemaking Mondays: A Biblical Perspective

 

Hello! 
It's a lovely Monday morning here and I've been pondering 

what to share with all of you.  

A few years ago I started to share some scriptures that 

the Lord was pressing on my heart....and the same is happening today.

I'm not great with words, but would like to share with you some of the practical 

everyday aspects of homemaking from a Biblical perspective. 

The following is taken from a previous post.

Titus 2:3-5

 "The aged women likewise, that they be in behaviour as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things;

 That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children,

 To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed."

Here we see that the aged women (the ones who have learned and are proficient at this), 

are to teach the younger (who still need to learn).  

To be sober: not taken with strong drink, but also sober is to be aware, vigilant.  Also not given to an influence of passion...calm, controlled in the case of making decisions/ sober judgement.

Yes, women are known for their emotions, but we can learn to control ourselves when we need to be wise and make good judgement calls. 

To love their husbands!  This is so sorely missing today.  The trend of husband bashing that I have seen over the years has been atrocious!  We need to be taught to love, care for their needs, respect, honour and yes...to submit to our husbands.  We are to be their helpmeets, not their bosses.  

To love their children. Oh how the world sees children as either a burden or as an excuse to not take care of what they are responsible for.  A child is a blessing from the Lord and yes, they take a lot of work. They require a lot of your time and energy.  This is a good thing!  The world is not all about you and what you need.  As a mother we are to be sacrificial, to look to the needs of our children above our own. 

Some look at children as more important than taking care of their homes or doing other responsibilities (including taking time for their husbands).  There is a balance.  

To be discreet.  Noah Webster defined it like this:

Prudent; wise in avoiding errors or evil, and in selecting the best means to accomplish a purpose; circumspect; cautious; wary; not rash.

To teach the younger women to be self controlled, to use wisdom in the affairs of their homes.

To be chaste. This refers to sexual purity: for an unmarried woman to not involve herself in sexual relations, and for a married woman to remain faithful to her husband and their marriage bed. 

Also this refers to one's conversation.  To teach the young women to be free from obscenities. To have your speech be pure, uncorrupt, and free from hurtful words.

1 Peter: 3:2 

"While they behold your chaste conversation coupled with fear."

Keepers at home.  Keeper denotes one who keeps or cares for the home.  At denotes that they do it at home and not from an outside source. There is much that is involved in keeping a home, and as an older women who is skilled in this, she can share her wisdom and knowledge with the younger woman in this area as well. 

I would say that it would be in the areas of cooking, cleaning, shopping, managing bills, gardening, etc.

Good.  This could be seen from various angles, but really it means not evil.  We get the knowledge of what is good by reading and studying God's Word.  

Obedient to their own husbands.  Now pride says... no one is going to tell me what to do.  But obedience says "thy will be done and not my own".  To love our husbands in this way, to respect their headship in the home and the decisions they make is a very important skill that needs some direction from the older women.  It's not to be a doormat for our husbands, but we as wives need to submit ourselves to them.  If they ask something of us, we need to respectfully carry out the request.

That the Word of God be not blasphemed.  The unbelieving world is watching!  Will we honour the Lord through our marriages, parenting, personal conduct, and homes?

It is a high calling we as women have, and we need the older women who are knowledgeable in this to teach the younger women these things...or they'll learn from the world in an ungodly manner.  

Thank you for stoping by! 

Praying that you may find some edification through this.  

Love and Prayers,

Jennifer

Homemaking Mondays: What To Do In Cold Weather

 

Hello! 
It's been cold here in the Yukon 

as a deeper cold has settled in.

The activities outdoors are a bit more challenging. 

Though beautiful things such as tea throws 

are only accomplished at these temps. 

I absolutely love the sound of the water as it freezes

and the smoky clouds that form. 

The one picture shows how it is to be under 

a frosty jellyfish. 

I'd love to share with you this beautiful quilt 

my daughter created for her bed.

She loves woodsy things and 

I think all the patterns she combined are very 

fitting for her room.

It's a warm quilt and will no doubt be her favourite

for many years to come.

With it being colder outside

I in truth like to spend more time inside. 

One day I was working in the kitchen

I'd found a great deal on chicken breasts so...

I canned them up and also some chicken stock

for the pantry.

While waiting for the canner 

I like to sit and knit.  

Our dog Sophie likes to hang out with me.  

Today I finally got to deep cleaning my stove fan.

Then I turned the glass light cover around so the smooth side was 

facing out.  I then added this great new 

LED light to it's place.  

I'm not a fan of the hum or radiation that comes from florescent lights

so thought this might be a better choice.

It was a gift from a friend and I'm very thankful for it!

Also I wanted to say that I love using a baking soda paste to clean 

the oily spaces...and then I 

soak the vent covers in borax and water to clean them. 

What do you use to clean these "nasties"? 

What kind of things do you enjoy doing 

on deep cold days? 

Love and Prayers,

Jennifer

Homemaking Mondays: To Brighten Your Day

 

Hello! 
Nice to see you today! 

I'd love to share with you some things that have 

brightened my day.

Gifts from friends and some things to go to friends.

The thoughtfulness of others to 

consider you during their day.

Friendship is one of those special gifts

the Lord Jesus has given that 

makes life all the sweeter for it.

This past week I was gifted this lovely bouquet of

fresh flowers! 

I just love daisy flowers! It is a lovely big bouquet.

Oh how cheerful it has been to walk into the kitchen 

and see them on the table.

Bright and fresh on our cold winters days. 

I know fresh flowers don't last forever...

but they are wonderful! 

Then another dear friend gave me 

an old apron of hers.

She was down sizing and I'm so honoured 

that she gave it to me!

It is great for canning in as spills

wash right off. 

All the lovely wildflowers of Scotland.

She knew how much I loved wildflowers.

Speaking of flowers....

Yes I have bought more seeds!  
I bought some dwarf cosmos and calendula seeds.

I have started to use the West Coast Seed Company,

and then Renee's Garden seeds as well. 

They are both locally available.

Soon...very soon I can start some seeds.  
For now I will continue to look through the colourful 

seed packets and dream of how they will look 

in the garden. 

I have also been making some cards this week.

Some for birthdays, and some 

just because. 

It has been nice to work with paper.

All the colourful papers brighten the dull overcast days.

What do you do during the darker duller days of winter? 

Do you find colourful things to cheer you? 

Thank you for dropping by! 

For all the wonderful comments. 

It's great to hear about your lives as well. 

Like how you also stash candles and blankets in your homes.

Love and Prayers,

Jennifer

Homemaking Mondays: Tea and Candlelight

 

Hello!  
It's been snowing again and the skies are dim.

I was sitting in my chair knitting and thought a cup of tea would be nice. 

It was just a blend of tea that I put together.

Some chamomile, mint, red raspberry leaf, yarrow, rose-hip,

spruce tip, and calendula.

I just pulled my computer chair over and it was within easy reach.  
I'm knitting more socks....seems to be my favourite knitting project.

As of late the power has seemed to be flickering 

an astounding amount...and then also going out for periods of time.

One day it went out while we were having breakfast

so we lit the candles and finished our meal.

We then moved candles to the living room and sat around until it got lighter.

Then we headed out to shovel snow and when we came in 

the power had come back on.

I love having candles on hand so that they are accessible  

for any situation.

Do you have a candle stash?

I also stash matches....only makes sense.  

This week I was given a gift of a pretty terrarium pot.

I love how the top reminds me of a lamp globe.

I'm thinking of perhaps trying rosemary in it? 
It's one of those herbs that is harder to grow. 

I am going to wait just a bit longer so that 

it has a better chance with more sunshine.

Of course as I think of growing things....

I wanted to share this delightful pink geranium blossom.

The plant is quite dormant, but it's starting to come out again.

Love the cheerful colour!

One of those little details in life that can make you smile! 

All these little aspects of our homes are precious details that the Lord has 

given to us to make our homes

places that others want to spend time in. 

The details that make home and not just a house to stay in.

The Lord is so good and enables us

as homemakers to add these details to our lives.

Thinking of other details...

with the power outages I'm also thankful for 

the blanket collection we have.  

Do you collect blankets? 

Knitted/ crocheted/ sewn/ quilts?
Do you have a favourite?

Thanks so much for dropping by! 

Love and Prayers,

Jennifer

Homemaking Mondays: Just for You and Cupcakes to!

 

Hello! 

Praying your day is going well...

or perhaps you will just find some small thing 

that makes you smile.

I made some cards this week with a couple special someones in mind.

I know it's winter...but the bright cheerfulness of flowers won out for me. 

I also had some lovely little wooden birds that were begging to fly.

It's been not so cold here thus far this year.

We still enjoy our winter pancakes though.

My one syrup jar broke so I've taken to 

using the creamer from my tea set. 

We make our own brown sugar syrup 

with some maple syrup mixed in.

This weekend my daughters made some 

delightful and delicious cupcakes.

They made wacky cake

with buttercream icing.

Here is another of the cards I made.

There's always a reason to smile.

I've also been dreaming of spring. 

Below is the greenhouse at the place we live.

It is in need of some TLC.

It is my dream to put plastic over it and 

start growing things. 

It'll be a few months before anything can be done.

My son measured it at 16x 20.

Lots of room for tomatoes, cucumbers,

squash, and beans...and then 

anything else I find to tuck in there.

I have all have all the seeds I need for the garden this year.

In a few weeks there will be seedlings reaching for light 

in the windows...waiting...waiting

for spring.

Praying you have a beautiful day! 

Love and Prayers,

Jennifer

Homemaking Mondays: Yarn Spaces

 

Hello! 

Today I'd like to share with you my new yarn space. 

Since we moved into this new place my 

yarn has been in bins and bags.

I found a sale on these wooden boxes and bought 

some to stack the yarn in. 

My collection is at the top of our spiral staircase 

and I see it every day.

They are rough and you have to be careful 

not to get slivers. 

Come summer I shall take and paint them. 

Not sure what colour yet..

any suggestions?

Now I have all my yarn out where I can see it.

For inspiration and so I 

can be prompted to get my crochet and knitting

projects done.

Above is the box of my wool sock yarn. 

For awhile I just made things with yarn because

I enjoyed the process. 

Now I am working to be more purposeful in what I create.

For now it's socks.  

Our winters are cold and my family needs warm socks on their feet.

It is a skill I'm glad that I have learned.

I also piled all of the balls of my crochet thread into this nice plastic bin.

I set my crochet binder (with all my patterns) and my 

needle holder bag in on top.  

The needle holder bag was a gift from a dear friend and I love

having all of my tools in one place so I can easily find them. 

I just finished up another pair of socks. 

These are for my youngest son since my older son's feet

are just a bit too big for them. 

SO...now I have to make some "man sized" socks for him. :) 

Yes, the socks do look a tad different...

the importance of making sure you have all your yarn from 

the same dye lot! 

This week has been great for outdoor activities.  

The temperatures have been fairly mild and very little wind on the whole.

My boys wanted to go for a ski so we did and it was so fun 

to explore the trails with them.

The hills were gradual so it was not bad to go up or down. 

Of course they liked going down...but not so fast as to need protective gear. 

We've had little flurries of snow but no big dumps and that is nice 

for we've not had to shovel much.

The birds have been enjoying the feeders.

We now have some red poles and a sparrow that have discovered us.

It is interesting to watch all the different birds share the space.  

They are getting used to the children 

who like to stand or sit close by and watch

and chat with them. 

I have heard a few people be able to make bird sounds perfectly...

a skill I've never been able to learn.

Thankfully they seem to enjoy hearing our language to. 

I would also like to say thank you all so much for the comments that you 

give.  I treasure them all and enjoy hearing about your lives!  

Hope you have a beautiful day! 

Love and Prayers,

Jennifer

Homemaking Mondays: Treasures of Home

 

Hello! 

I hope you are enjoying this winter's day. 

I found this delightful contraption at the free store this week.

I have been informed it is for lasagna! 

It's from Italy and it is silver plated zinc.  

It took some scrubbing...and could no doubt use a bit more.

The tarnishing was quite extensive.  

I just love how much effort went into creating something

beautiful to be used in the home.

I didn't use anything fancy when making

some fresh ginger snap cookies.... just a fork.

It is nice to have those simple things to enjoy.

To see out of the corner of the eye cookies go missing as 

sneaky fingers snitch as they go walking by. :) 

The shy smiles of munching lips.

The treasure of home cooked meals. 

Simple and nourishing.

A treasure of home is the time spent

in caring for all those that reside and come

within it's walls.

Another treasure is being able to take the time to enjoy the 

beauty of God's creation.

I went with my daughters for a snowshoe hike this week.

To a place we'd never gone before.

It was so beautiful to walk beneath the branches laden 

with snow and frost. 

Then out into the open of a little lake to see the sun 

send the snow into a 

blanket of glittering stars.

Once home from our walk

we rested in the warm within it's walls.

A blessing to come in out of the cold.

For all of this I am most thankful to the Lord 

for all His kindness.

Love and Prayers,

Jennifer